The invention relates to a method and to a device for conveying strip-shaped or plate-shaped products, corresponding to the preamble of claim 1 or the preamble of claim 10. In particular, the invention relates to a method of this type and to a device of this type for conveying primary products or intermediate products of the foodstuffs industry, in particular intermediate chewing gum products, from which during the course of further processing, subsequent to the conveying device according to the invention, individual product portions intended for consumption, in particular individual strips of chewing gum, are produced.
The invention is described below by way of chewing gum as the product to be conveyed as an example. Insofar as chewing gums, chewing gum strips or strip chewing gums or chewing gum slabs or sheets are mentioned below, this is to be understood purely as an example. Along with chewing gums, the present invention also relates to any type of flat, strip-shaped or plate-shaped objects, in particular to such objects, which as primary or intermediate products of the foodstuffs industry, are suitable for human consumption once they have been suitably further processed and portioned. In this connection, for example, these can also be primary or intermediate products of the baking and confectionery industry and the like. However, also included are flat, strip-shaped or plate-shaped products which are not intended for human consumption, such as, for example, medical or pharmaceutical products, such as medical diagnostic strips, blister packs, and the like.
The essential point in the case of all the objects of this type is that they are produced as a flat, strip-shaped or plate-shaped or mat-shaped primary or intermediate product in a continuously operating device and are then transferred to a device which is connected downstream in which they are conveyed further and in particular are processed further. Said latter further processing device, in this case, is in particular a device in which individual product portions (e.g. in this case individual strips of chewing gum intended for consumption) are formed from the delivered larger primary or intermediate product, the individual products created in this manner then being in particular also packaged individually or in groups in the further processing device.
In the case of chewing gums, such a further processing device is described, for example, in German Patent Application 10 2011 075 439. In the case of said chewing gum packaging machine, first of all larger rectangular plates, in particular strips, of chewing gum material are provided, out of which the individual strip-shaped chewing gum portions are then formed, said individual strips then being packaged individually and/or in groups. In the case of said and other known chewing gum packaging machines, the larger rectangular product plates delivered (so-called slabs) are provided at the machine input stacked in a magazine, out of which they are removed one after another and are inserted in succession into the packaging machine in which the individual product strips (chewing gum strips) are then formed out of the slab, and in which the individual strips are subsequently packaged and conveyed further.
In the case of known chewing gum packaging machines, the chewing gum primary products can also be delivered in the form of larger mats or plates (sheets) instead of in the named rectangular elongated form (slabs).
Said strip-shaped or mat-shaped or plate-shaped chewing gum primary products are typically produced in an endless strand in a rolling train, the product strips or product mats being detached from, in particular cut off, the endless strand and calibrated at the output of the rolling train. The production of said chewing gum strips or chewing gum plates in the rolling train is a continually running process which cannot be interrupted and stopped easily and/or in the short-term. Consequently, chewing gum strips or chewing gum mats (slabs or sheets) are continuously output from said producing device as primary products. Said chewing gum primary products, as described above, are then transferred to the further processing and packaging machine, from which they have to be continuously removed corresponding to the running delivery.
In the further processing and packaging machine the smaller chewing gum strips are then detached from the delivered primary product strips as individual portions. Insofar as the chewing gum primary product is delivered in the form of larger mats or plates, said mats/plates (sheets) are first of all divided into individual, larger product strips (slabs), said product strips are then divided, in turn, into the individual strips of the end products. Said detaching operation is effected, for example, as a result of forming a groove in the product and detaching the individual strips along the formed grooves. Experts call said process rolling and scoring.
In the case of the above-described process sequence, the problem arises that the further processing and packaging machine sometimes does not always operate continuously, uninterruptedly and error-free. For example, it is possible for a product jam and corresponding blockages or obstructions to arise in said machine, for products to be wrongly wrapped in the packaging material and for similar faults to occur. In order to eliminate these types of faults, the further processing and packaging machine has, where applicable, to be stopped. In said phase, however, the primary products (slabs/sheets) delivered to the machine input are not then able to be removed and supplied into the machine. On the other hand, the primary products, as described above, continue to be produced and delivered continuously, in succession, out of the endless strand by the producing machine, i.e. the product strips/product mats have to be removed continuously at the output of the producing machine. As a result of the process-typical characteristics of chewing gum production, it is typically not possible in any case to stop the production installation (strand roll train) easily and in the short-term, in particular in such cases in which the further processing machine has to be stopped as a result of faults. Consequently, the problem arises, in principle, that primary products are continually discharged from the producing machine, it sometimes not being possible, however, in the case of faults for said products to be removed continuously by the further processing machine. Typically, the products have then, among other things, to be stored intermediately and conditioned for these reasons.